The Forgotten
by meltmehappy
Summary: After the massacre at Randy's Sam and Dean are even more motivated to rid Dean of the accursed Mark of Cain. Their search is derailed when Cas suddenly appears to them with no memory, of anything. Can the boys find a way to help Cas before Dean loses himself?
1. Chapter 1

**AN:** _Hey all, so I am not usually one to publish, but I had this idea I wanted to put out there. This one starts after The Things We Left Behind. So we know the drill, I don't own Supernatural or the characters, we will see some OC's later on. Hope you enjoy! Thanks._

Sam sat at his usual spot at the table in the library thumbing through what he knew would be another dead end regarding removing the mark of Cain from Dean. The only good that had come from the last blood bath was that Dean seemed calmer; he wasn't nearly as agitated or pent up. Of course Sam couldn't allow himself to be grateful for it but it was nice not having Dean ask him every five minutes if they had a job.

"Hey Sammy, ya want a beer?" Dean called from the kitchen.

"Sure, thanks," Sam replied as he slapped the book he'd been reading closed and slouched back in his chair. He was getting nowhere with this search, but it was impossible for him to give up. Dean walked into the library with a content look on his face as his took a swig of his beer and handed one to Sam.

"What's with the kicked puppy look on your face," Dean questioned as he sat down across from Sam.

"Just another dead end..." Sam told him as he took a long slow sip of his beer and let out a heavy sigh.

"You're really expecting to find something? C'mon man, two people have had this mark in the history of the world, there's no reason for there to be any lore about it... That'd be like staring at a salad bar hoping to find a cheese burger... Speaking of which, I'm getting hungry, wanna go get some dinner?"

Sam simply nodded in reply as he went to put away the book. As he set it on the shelf he couldn't help wondering if Dean actually didn't want to get rid of the mark at all. It's not as though the thought hadn't crossed his mind before but he would think after Dean's little slaughter house act with the loan shark that it might knock some sense into him. He quickly shook off the thought and grabbed his jacket to head out with Dean.

The drive to a nearby diner was silent. Dean tapped his fingers on the steering wheel humming along with some song on the radio. They were about to park on the street when suddenly Castiel appeared in the car. Dean looked in the rearview with a raised eyebrow.

"Hey Cas, I thought you were taking care of Claire..." Dean said after Cas had just sat there with an oddly bewildered look on his face.

"Who?" Castiel asked.

"Um, Claire, you know, your meat suits daughter..." Dean replied glancing over to Sam who shrugged with a confused look of his own.

"Meat what? Where am I? Who are you?" Castiel fired off question after question and Dean quickly pulled the car over slamming it into park and turning around to look at Castiel.

"Cas, are you trying out comedy? Because it's not working for you..." Dean questioned having no idea what the hell was happening.

"Why do you keep calling me Cas?"

"Because it's your name... Jesus what happened to you man?" Dean looked him over and there didn't appear to be any wounds or anything that would suggest that Castiel had been into any trouble.

"I don't know... I don't know anything... I can't remember anything..." Castiel said and the realization began to sink in more for himself that he had no idea who he was. His eyes fell to his hands in his lap, he had no idea what to do, how to act, why he was suddenly with these two men.

"Son of a bitch... Guess we'll start slow. Your name's Castiel... I'm Dean and this is my brother Sammy. We're friends of yours," Dean told him.

"Dean, can I talk to you, uh, in private for a minute..." Sam said as he opened the passenger door to get out. Dean nodded and told Castiel to just wait in the car and the two went to the back of the Impala to talk. "This could be really dangerous. I mean he doesn't even seem to know he's an angel or anything...If he is even still an angel. I mean what if in this amnesia state he just smites somebody accidentally or zaps off some place and freaks out?"

"Sammy, calm down, it's not Cas' nature to just go around smiting people. Besides, if we start freaking out that's gonna freak him out. So we just play it cool, see if we can find out what happened and find a way to get his memory back." Dean told him. "Hell maybe a burger might jog his memory; you know that whole sense memory recall crap..."

"Seriously, you still want to go get dinner... You want to take that guy out into public? He was awkward enough when he did know who he was," Sam said with a very clear bitch face.

"C'mon, there's rabbit food in it for ya..." Dean replied teasingly. To which Sam simply shook his head warning him this probably wouldn't go well. Dean walked back around opening the back door. "Alright Cas, we're gonna get some dinner let's go." Castiel was hesitant a moment but something inside him said he could trust Dean and so he got out of the car and followed him.

They all walked in and a waitress sat them at a booth toward the back. Castiel looked for a moment seeming to try to decide where to sit. Eventually he settled on Dean's side and slid in, and kept sliding until he was practically in Dean's lap.

"Whoa there buddy, we've talked about this Cas... Personal space..." Dean told him giving a light push so there was at least a few inches between them.

"We have?" Castiel questioned looking over apologetically. The waitress came by a few minutes later asking if they were ready to order. Castiel looked uncertain as his glance went down to the menu.

"He'll have a cheeseburger and a coke," Dean said pointing to Castiel. "I'm gonna get a bacon cheeseburger, extra onions and a strawberry shake."

"I'll take a Caesar salad with grilled chicken," Sam told her.

"That's so cute, you order for your boyfriend," the waitress commented with a smile.

"Whoa, hold on a second, it's not like that..." Dean said putting his hands up pushing at the air as if he could push the words she'd just said out of the booth.

"It's okay darlin'... Nothing to be ashamed of," she told him and walked away to put in their order. Sam burst into a fit of laughter and Dean scowled telling him to shut up.

"You know what, I think dinner was a great idea Dean.." Sam remarked still smirking as he took a sip of water.

"I've embarrassed you, haven't I?" Castiel said with a sad look in his blue eyes. Dean looked up at the ceiling running his hand over his face.

"It's not like that Cas... Not your fault... But we're just friends... Not like.." Dean made some lewd motion with his hands. "Benefits friends..."

"I do not understand that reference..." Castiel said and Dean smiled laughing at hearing the familiar phrase. "Why is it funny?"

"Sorry Cas... It's not... I know it's gotta be pretty confusing right now, but we're gonna figure this stuff out alright?" Dean told him and Castiel nodded believing he was sincere. Their order came up quickly and Castiel stared down at his burger he lifted the top bun looking underneath much like a child checking for monsters under their bed. "It's perfectly safe Cas... Just the way you like it. Trust me, this will make you very happy." Castiel gave a small smile and after having seen how Dean took a bite of his burger mimicked the same. Sam held back his laughter as the two looked like a couple of gorged chipmunks.

"Hmm, this does make me very happy," Castiel commented with his mouth still full smiling at Dean.

"See, what'd I tell ya," Dean replied also with his mouth full. Sam kept his gaze to his salad trying not to comment on their horrid manners or the fact the pieces of food were flying every time they spoke with their mouths full. They finished up their meal and the waitress returned asking if they wanted any desserts. "Hell yes, its pie time. I'll take a slice of cherry," Dean told her. She looked to Castiel who nodded saying he would have the same. Sam waived her off saying that he was full. She quickly went off to get the pie ready. "Now this, this is gonna be the best thing ever. I can't even remember what it was like to have pie for the first time. Probably be like having sex for the first time. Trust me, it'll be awesome." Dean told him and Castiel looked very very confused about why pie and sex were being compared.

"It's very pretty..." Castiel commented at the glistening cherries and woven design of the crust that sparkled slightly as it was topped with sugar crystals. He poked at it with his fork a bit.

"Don't play with it, eat it," Dean said as he took a large bite. Castiel ate some but had to admit to himself that he much preferred the burger over the pie but he could see that Dean very much enjoyed the pie and so he imitated the same figuring that this must just be what one does when eating pie. Once they finished and settled the bill they all went back to the car.

"What happens now?" Castiel questioned as they got back into the car.

"We're gonna get back to the bunker and figure out how to get your memory back," Dean told him. Castiel's gaze was slightly withdrawn, Dean could see it clearly that Castiel still had no recollection of anything.

"We'll figure this out Cas. Whatever it takes," Sam said with a reassuring look. Castiel simply nodded, he could tell they genuinely meant what they were saying but he couldn't help thinking this was impossible. They made it back to the bunker quickly and all went inside. Sam immediately went into the library and started searching for spell books for a memory restoration spell.

"What is this place?" Castiel asked looking around as he followed the brothers.

"It's where we live, kinda a base of operations for our work," Dean replied.

"I live here? What sort of work do we do?" Castiel questioned. Dean took a deep breath; this was certainly not going to be an easy night.

"You might want to sit down. This is gonna sound pretty crazy I'm guessing..." Dean began as he pulled out a chair motioning for Castiel to have a seat. Castiel complied and sat waiting for him to continue. "Alright, well here goes..." Dean began relaying high level details of what they did, saving people, killing things, the family business. He paused as he was about to begin on the fact that Castiel was an angel realizing there was so much that had happened over the years that he wasn't certain where to begin or what all to tell Castiel about it.

"And what of me? I help you with these, jobs?" Castiel asked part of him found all of this hard to believe but somewhere inside he could see that Dean was being sincere.

"Well, you're an angel. You were sent from heaven to help us," Dean said and didn't say much further than that. Castiel sat wide eyed with a shocked look on his face. "It's not so crazy, there's a bunch of your kind out there..."

"You're joking... You can't be serious..." Castiel muttered. "From what I can see of myself, I don't look very angelic..." he gazed down at his body examining his own hands. "I must have lied to you or you were misinformed somehow..."

"Sorry Cas, you are the real deal. Maybe we should test out your powers and see if it still works..." Dean pondered and stood up walking into the kitchen. He came back with a carving knife and both Sam and Castiel looked at him as though he was off his rocker. He put the blade to his own arm making a fairly sizable cut and Castiel quickly stood going over to him.

"Dean this is madness! What did you..." Castiel stopped mid-sentence as he noticed that when he took Dean's arm to examine it he instinctively placed a hand over the wound and it healed.

"Well look at that, still an angel!" Dean remarked with a laugh as he went back into the kitchen throwing the knife into the sink.

"That was very dangerous Dean. You could have been hurt badly..." Castiel said in a chastising voice.

"It was just a scratch," Dean told him playing it off.

"Seriously, Cas is right, that was kinda nuts..." Sam commented as his gaze went back to the book he'd been reading.

"Everything worked out, no need to get your panties in a knot," Dean told them.

"I'm not wearing panties Dean..." Castiel replied still looking at him with some concern.

"Alright alright, maybe it was a little overboard, but it worked right? We know you're still an angel. So that's that. Let's get to work on getting your memory back," Dean said as he grabbed a book from the pile that Sam had on the table.

Castiel sat and an unsettled look remained in his eyes but he took a book, not certain what he was really looking for but started to thumb through the pages only to find apparently he was quite an excellent reader, what would have taken the brothers' hours to read he could sift through in just minutes. Soon there was a stack of already read books next to Castiel. He stopped and stared at a particular page for some time.

"You found something?" Sam questioned noticing the long pause the Castiel was taking. Castiel nodded turning the book toward Sam. "Okay, so purifying a blocked mind... Says here that in order to restore a blocked memory it needs to be purified of whatever is messing with it. And this ingredient list... I don't even know if some of this stuff exists..."

"What're you talkin' about Sammy? All the shit we've seen and you're actually wondering if something exists? It's got to," Dean remarked as he pulled the book from Sam's hand. "Okay so what do we got here... Seriously, what the hell is this list... A Pegasus feather? Blood of a virgin? Scale from a white dragon? Phoenix ash? Fairy dust? Son of a bitch fairies again?"

"Dean, it would seem that I perhaps cannot regain my memory..." Castiel said with a sigh.

"No, no way, we're getting you back up to full speed here. We'll find this stuff..." Dean told him adamantly.

"Where are we even going to start with this list?" Sam questioned as he ran his hands through his hair.

"The virgin I guess, gotta be the easiest thing on the list right?" Dean commented with a shrug.

"How do you figure? How do you even find a virgin? I mean you'd need a dragon's sense to..." Sam started and stopped himself. "That's it, we start with the dragon. They usually like collecting virgins..."

"Two birds with one stone, so there we go, we'll start on this white dragon," Dean said as he went and got a few beers out of the fridge. Castiel looked at the bottle that Dean set down in front of him.

"Do angels drink alcohol?" Castiel questioned uncertainly as he read the label.

"Oh I don't know about all of 'em but you apparently drank a liquor store once," Dean told him with an impressed looking gaze.

"I'm not certain if that is something that I should be proud of..." Castiel remarked but took a sip of the beer anyways.

The three stayed up into the middle of the night. Sam and Castiel were researching the dragon and Dean was distracted with virgin "research". Sam and Castiel would look over at Dean once in a while as he stared with a grin at his laptop.

"Are you really doing any research or are you sitting there watching muted porn?" Sam accused pulling a face.

"What? I'm doing very important research here... Very... Important..." he said as his head began to tilt and he stared at the screen. "How do you even..." Castiel looked at Dean curiously and walked over to see what it was that Dean was looking at. Before he could get there Dean slapped the laptop shut. "Enough about my research what about you two? Whatcha got?" Castiel eyed him suspiciously but went back to sit down.

"Well while you were sitting there doing God knows what... We think we found a white dragon sighting. It's from about fifteen years ago, but it's the only one we've been able to find." Sam said as he turned his laptop to Dean for him to take a look at the article.

"Fifteen years? The thing could be anywhere by now..." Dean muttered as he read.

"Not necessarily. According to what I've been reading dragons actually like to remain for long periods of time in the same area. They enjoy accumulating their treasures in the same place and since it seems that not many actually believe in dragons they are fairly safe to do so in the past few centuries." Castiel said.

"Alright, so I guess we get some shut eye and head out to...Seriously... Michigan?... Why would a dragon go to Michigan, aren't they just big lizards? Why not Florida or someplace warm..." Dean groused but the real problem was that he knew Lisa and Ben were still living in Battlecreek...

"Sorry you don't get a Bay Watch day," Sam said as he rolled his eyes not even thinking about the whole Lisa thing. Dean gave a slight snicker mumbling better luck next time and wandered off to go to bed.

"Where do I sleep? Do I sleep?" Castiel asked Sam.

"Well I don't think you do sleep but there are a few extra rooms if you wanna just relax until we have to go," Sam told him and showed him to one of the rooms then went to go to his own.

Castiel closed the door behind himself and stood a while examining the room. It was fairly plain only a bed and a dresser. He walked to one door opening it and found an empty closet. He moved on to the other door which was to a bathroom. He closed that door and sat down on the bed. In the silence as he waited he wondered if every night was this long. Remaining alone and awake while the others slept. What a miserable time of existence this was. But maybe if he got his memories back he would be able to look back fondly in these quiet moments. Right now with an empty head he was beyond restless, sitting in this room was like some sort of torture. He got up, walking out into the library and was surprised to see Dean sitting staring off into space with a glass in his hand and a bottle of Johnnie Walker beside him.

"Couldn't sleep huh?" Dean said without looking over at him.

"Apparently I don't sleep Dean..." Castiel replied as he came closer and could see the oddly distant look in Dean's eyes.

"Go grab a glass, don't make me drink this alone," Dean said and allowed a small smirk as he looked over at Castiel who went into the kitchen, found another glass sitting on the counter and came back. Dean poured the whisky into Castiel's glass and more into his own.

"Something is bothering you Dean?" Castiel questioned as he took a sip from the glass and stared at the golden liquid that sparkled in the etching on the glass.

"Nothin', just can't seem to get back to anywhere near normal... And I'm not talking most people's normal... I'm just saying, if all we had to worry about was gankin' some vamps or whatever life would be so much simpler... But if I'm being honest it's never been that simple anyhow... Destined for a shit show since, hell, for generations... Don't mean I'm not gonna see it through, because I'm on this train til the last stop... Just need for something to work out for once... We gotta get your memories back..." Dean rambled on for a while. Clearly once he'd heard everyone else go to bed he'd gotten up and started drinking, heavily.

"I'm sorry I've caused you trouble Dean..." Castiel said with a frown taking another sip of the whisky.

"Cas, no, that's not it. You're not trouble. I...well...let's just say I'm fond of you Cas. Just want you back to bein' you is all. I know I'm not making sense here, so don't listen to me..." Dean said as he let out a heavy sigh as he sat back in his chair staring at the ceiling. "There's a lotta times I wouldn'ta made it through if you hadn't been around... This's gotta work..." Dean's slurred speech gave Castiel some concern he could see there was much more going on in Dean's head than he would allow to come out, which was most likely why he was rambling so much.

"Dean, I believe that you should probably try to sleep. According to the map that Sam showed me we will have about fourteen hours of driving ahead... You will need your rest," Castiel told him. Dean huffed slightly but nodded in agreement. "If you would like I can watch over you..." Dean raised an eyebrow looking over at Castiel.

"Suit yourself," Dean told him as he stood up blinking a few times and shaking his head. The whisky caught up when he stood up and he almost fell back in his chair.

Castiel put an arm around him and helped him down the hall and to his room. Dean got out of Castiel's hold and let himself fall face first onto the bed. Castiel shook his head and pulled the blanket from the end of the bed quietly putting it over Dean. Dean had already passed out; Castiel ran a hand gently over his hair and gently smoothed the blanket over Dean's shoulders. Then he pulled a chair from across the room so that he could sit next to the bed and watch over him. Somehow this was enough purpose to quell the unrest he'd felt at just sitting in the other room by himself. Watching over Dean gave him a sort of purpose, or at least made him feel as such.

Dean woke a few hours later and buried his head in his pillow. He'd over-done it a bit with the whisky. He took a bleary glance around and was met with Castiel sitting directly next to his bed. He blinked a few times just to make sure he was actually awake.

"What are you doing Cas?" Dean mumbled from his pillow.

"You said I could watch over you," Castiel replied.

"Well I need to hit the shower and I don't need you watching over that, go check on Sammy, I'll be out in a while..." Dean told him still attempting to will enough spirit to bring his head more than a couple inches from his pillow.

"Alright Dean," Castiel said with a nod as he rose from the chair and left the room. As soon as Castiel was out of the room Dean rolled himself over with a groan and stalked slowly to the shower. He peeled himself out of his clothes and ran the hot water for a minute before getting in. He let the hot water run over his head trying to figure out why he would have ever told Castiel that he could stay and watch over him. He tried to just shake it off and hoped that nothing had happened the previous night.

Castiel came out into the kitchen and found Sam making himself a cup of coffee. Sam held up a cup offering one to Castiel and he declined the offer. Sam shrugged and walked out of the kitchen and into the library and sat flipping open his laptop to get together the final details on their trip. Castiel watched and Sam gave a curious look.

"Everything okay Cas?" Sam questioned.

"Yes, it will just be nice to not be so confused, or at least I hope to not be so confused when my memory is returned," Castiel told him as he took a seat at the table.

"Confused about what?" Sam knew that without any memories things must be difficult but the look in Castiel's eyes seemed to be something deeper than just missing memories.

"I'm wondering what sort of relationship Dean and I have... I get this odd feeling around him..." Castiel admitted.

"Well so far as I know you guys are friends... But what exactly do you mean by an odd feeling?" Sam asked trying his best not to let a laugh escape his lips debating if it was some sort of romantic feeling.

"I can't really explain it completely. I feel as though I have to watch over him. It's as though I worry at any moment he might do something foolish, like he did when he cut himself yesterday..." Castiel told him.

"Well he is a big idiot so that's not surprising..." Sam joked, Castiel's brow furrowed in response. "I'm kidding, but sometimes he can be pretty reckless, so I get why you feel protective. But are you sure it's not anything more?"

"More,? What do you mean by that, exactly?" Castiel asked with a confused gaze. Dean rounded the corner and Sam clammed up.

"Nothing, nevermind," Sam said quickly and went back to sipping his coffee and staring at his laptop.

"Do you feel better Dean?" Castiel asked as he saw him coming in looking much more alive than the last time he'd seen him.

"Huh? Oh, yeah I'm fine Cas," Dean replied with a laugh as he got a cup of coffee and came into the library and sat with them. Castiel's eyes remained on him questioningly. "C'mon Cas, it's not the first time I got drunk and sure won't be the last."

"It can't be healthy Dean. You should be careful," Castiel said in an almost scolding tone.

"Now hold on a second there mother hen... I'm perfectly fine, so let's not go acting like my liver is going to fall out of my ear or something..." Dean told him and took a long sip of his coffee.

"That would be physically impossible Dean..." Castiel replied giving a look of concern about Dean's knowledge of human anatomy.

"Jesus Cas, we gotta get you back to normal, at least you were starting to pick up on sarcasm before..." Dean muttered.

"Alright you love birds, why don't we get on the road," Sam quipped quickly as he closed his laptop and went to put his cup in the sink.

"Love birds?" Dean and Castiel said in unison.

"Yeah, you guys are like a married couple..." Sam said as he grabbed his jacket.

"Ah shuddup," Dean said and put his cup in the kitchen and they all got ready to leave. They all went out to the Impala getting in and Dean quickly pulled the car onto the road.


	2. Chapter 2

**AN:** _Hey all, so thanks for the reviews and favorites. This makes me very happy. (^_^) This chapter will have a bit of humor to it so I hope you enjoy it as much as the last._

The ride was long and mostly quiet. Castiel passed the time counting things, cars, flowers, birds, whatever happened to catch his eye. Then he would randomly spout facts about how many sparrows were flying in the last fifty miles or would ask if they realized that silver Toyota's accounted for around forty seven percent of the cars that he had seen in the last three hours. Dean gave a slight groan; this would be probably the longest fourteen hours of his life.

After eight hours of driving Dean decided it was time to stop for something to eat. He pulled into the Midway Truck Stop diner just off I-70 in Missouri. They walked inside and Dean's jaw dropped as he saw a waitress pass by with a plate of burger and fries bigger than Sam's head. A majority of the plate's people had seemed to take up about half their table for one order.

"Holy crap, I'm dead aren't I? This is heaven?" Dean commented as he saw a large pig shaped plate piled with bacon, waffles, eggs and at least ten other breakfast items pass by.

"I can feel my cholesterol rising just standing here..." Sam said looking around.

"Don't be such a girl Sammy," Dean replied and waved over a waitress to get them seated. They all sat down and immediately Dean saw the latest diner challenge on the menu. It was aptly named the quadruple bypass burger, six patties of beef with cheese, bacon, tomato and onions on a buttered and grilled bun. "This really is heaven. I'm gonna need me one of these darlin'." He told the waitress with a grin before anyone else even had a moment to look at the menus.

"You boys need a minute?" the waitress asked Castiel and Sam.

"I'm just gonna get a Cobb salad," Sam said.

"Big boy like you gettin' a salad?" she questioned with a raised eyebrow. He just nodded in return; he wasn't the junk food junky his brother was. They had enough stuff come after them in this life he certainly wasn't going to add heart failure to that list. "Now that just leaves you sweetheart."

"I'll take this please," Castiel told her as he pointed to one of the items on the menu.

"You're a brave one aren't ya?" she commented with a smile as she wrote down what he ordered.

"Why, is it frightening?" Castiel questioned with a slight look of concern. The waitress laughed loudly resting a hand on his shoulder.

"Oh, it's only gonna be frightening for your friends here in a couple hours..." she told him and then walked back toward the kitchen to put their order in.

"Well that sounded ominous, what the hell did you order?" Dean asked as he pulled the menu away from Castiel. Castiel pointed to what was apparently known as the Monster Mutant Chili Dog. "What what the hell is that? Where did you get the idea you might wanna eat that?"

"It has bacon, and it's fried. I was doing some reading earlier this morning and these are two of humans' favorite things. So I thought this must be very good," Castiel replied.

"It's chili and cheese and onions and oh man that girl is right, Sam we're in for a long ride..." Dean said with a cringe. "He's bound to go atomic after this meal..."

"I don't think that would be possible Dean... It seems that you might be overreacting," Castiel told him and Dean shook his head knowing this conversation wouldn't really go anywhere. After a bit their food arrived and Sam started laughing at the ridiculously over-sized portions that Dean and Castiel had. "How does one eat this?" Castiel questioned looking at the gargantuan pile of chili, cheese, and onion that somewhere hid a fried foot long hot dog wrapped in bacon.

"Ah don't be a sissy just pick the thing up and eat it," Dean told him jokingly, but had forgotten about Castiel's lack of knowing when he was serious. His eyes went wide and Castiel's hands went deep into the chili and he picked up the dog getting it to his mouth while making a complete disaster of his suit and jacket. "Shit, I was kidding..." Dean burst out laughing as did Sam.

"So that was more of your sarcasm then?" Castiel questioned a bit perturbed with his hands covered in chili.

"Yeah... Yeah it was... Sorry man..." Dean said as he was still choking back his laughter.

"I fail to see how this is funny Dean. These are my only clothes." Castiel said as he was trying to wipe himself off using the pile of napkins that the waitress had brought upon seeing that Castiel had actually attempted eating it like a regular hotdog.

"I got some stuff in the car, don't worry about it," Dean told him. They finished eating and Dean got some new clothes out of the trunk for Castiel. "Here, go into the plaza to the bathroom wash yourself up a bit and get changed into these." Dean tried to be as specific as he could with his instructions because knowing Castiel in this state if he just told him to go in and change he would literally be changing right in the middle of the truck stop convenience store. Castiel wandered off and went inside going in to the bathroom and proceeded to take his clothes off and washed his hands and splashed some water on his face. He began to get dressed in the new clothes when a man walked in as he was stepping into his pants.

"The hell you doin' boy?" the heavy set bearded man asked.

"Getting dressed, and you?" Castiel asked in return as if this were a perfectly normal conversation.

"Jesus lord almighty... Why ain't you in a stall? Nobody wants to see another man's equipment," he told Castiel who stood looking at him confused. "Dammit just pull up yer pants boy." Castiel complied and continued getting dressed once he finished getting his shirt on and put his shoes back on he was about to walk out. "You just gonna leave this suit on the floor boy? You think you at yer mama's house?"

"I don't have a mother... Or at least I don't think I do..." Castiel commented as he paused to think again and the man let out a frustrated growl. Just as he was about to grab Castiel by the collar Dean walked in.

"What's takin' so long Cas?" Dean asked and looked between the two men. "We got a problem here?"

"Your boy here's just up and changing in here like it's his personal bathroom hangin' his junk out for anybody who passed by..." the man told him.

"Jesus..." Dean mumbled under his breath. "Alright, come on Cas, let's go..."

"Now hold on a minute, I been havin' to deal with this idiot here for a minute, oughta get something for my time right?" the man questioned as he took hold of Dean's arm.

"Well in a second if you don't let go of me you'll get somethin' alright..." Dean told him with a hard gaze.

"The fuck you gonna do pretty boy?" he questioned with a laugh.

"Maybe I'll make you eat those three yellow fuckin' teeth you got left in your mouth fat man," Dean growled turning more toward him.

"Dean, we should just go, that's quite enough," Castiel said feeling a bit nervous for some reason that he couldn't explain to himself but he knew this would end badly for the large man.

"Nope, you know what, I don't think it's enough at all," Dean began as he pulled his arm from the man's grip and quickly took him by his collar shoving him into a stall wall. The fiberglass wall broke on impact and the man continued falling to the floor. Dean went to go toward him when Castiel grabbed his arm and they disappeared.

"What the hell?" Sam said with surprise as they suddenly appeared next to him.

"I don't know... I just wanted to get us out of there then we appeared here..." Castiel said uncertain of what had just happened.

"Why...? What happened?" Sam asked with a furrowed brow and looked over at Dean.

"Nothing, some guy giving Cas a hard time. Let's get out of here..." Dean said as he went around getting into the Impala and starting it without allowing another word. The other two jumped in and Dean peeled out of the lot.

"We really should talk about this..." Sam muttered from the passenger side.

"Stow the crap Sam. It wasn't a big deal," Dean told him as his jaw tightened.

"Not a big deal, are you serious? Cas just zapped you out of some sort of fight and that's not a big deal? He didn't even know he could do that so you put him in some sort of fear mode that the natural instinct to zap out just came through. I mean what if he'd zapped you guys off to friggin' Nepal or something?!" Sam shouted.

"He didn't, so just stop worrying about shit that didn't happen, damn Sammy..." Dean told him in a frustrated tone.

"You know what, fine... Just keep lying and tell yourself everything is okay while you have some kind of Mark of Cain 'roid rage moment..." Sam said rolling his eyes and looking out the window refusing to look back at or speak to Dean the rest of the ride to Michigan. Castiel sat in the back seat uncomfortably and so he returned to counting things but this time didn't mention them to the others since it seemed they didn't want to talk. It was late in the evening when they pulled into a motel lot in the town that they were going to begin their search for the dragon.

"I'll get us checked in..." Dean said without waiting for any reply and stomped off to the check-in office.

"Is Dean angry like this very often?" Castiel asked as he helped Sam get the duffle bags from the trunk.

"It's complicated Cas... Just watch out for him, okay?" Sam told him with an apologetic look. Castiel gave a solemn sort of nod and they both followed Dean into the motel room when he came back with the key. "So, it's already fairly late, why don't we turn in for the night and we'll get started here in the morning."

Castiel took a seat on the couch in the room and watched as the two brothers took to their beds silently. Dean picked up the remote flipping on the TV and went through the channels finally stopping on some old Clint Eastwood movie. He propped himself up slightly with his pillow and kept his eyes fixed on the television though he could feel Castiel staring at him.

"Need somethin' Cas?" Dean finally asked getting a bit tired of the lost puppy gaze. Castiel glanced down a moment and simply shook his head. He wasn't certain what to say but he had this feeling that made him worry about how violent Dean became with that man. Dean groaned slightly turning the TV off as he sat up. "Alright, spit it out Cas..."

"Well, I can't say why it is, but the fight earlier... While I appreciate you defending me, wasn't it a bit much?" Castiel asked with an uncertain gaze.

"Fat bastard deserved what he got. He got off easy really... Let's just forget about this and we'll focus on getting your memory back tomorrow alright?" Dean told him trying to end this quickly.

"Alright Dean... If that is what you want," Castiel replied and leaned back on the couch accepting that Dean didn't wish to speak of whatever it was that was going on with him. Dean laid back down rolling onto his stomach and burying his head in his pillow trying to force himself to sleep.

The next morning Dean woke to find himself alone he mumbled in confusion as he looked around. The bags were still in the room so they hadn't ditched him, not that they would anyways, right? They must have just gone on a supply run or to get some breakfast. Why the hell didn't they wake him up...

"If they got bacon without me I'm gonna be pissed..." Dean mumbled to himself as he rolled out of bed and went to get in the shower. As he was rinsing himself off he heard the door open and there was the rustling sound of bag, apparently a supply run. He finished up in the shower and was stepping out grabbing a towel when the bathroom door opened. Dean stood towel in hand looking over.

"We brought you breakfast, I thought you would like to know," Castiel told him.

"Great, thanks..." Dean told him as he toweled off a bit and wrapped the towel around his waist. He looked over seeing Castiel was still standing there. "Cas? I kinda got stuff to do in here still..."

"Right, of course," Castiel said as he backed out and closed the door.

"Jesus... " Dean mumbled to himself as he swiped the condensation off the mirror. "This spell better work, this clueless angel shit is worse than the first time..." He finished getting dressed and then came out. "Why didn't you wake me up for the run Sammy?"

"Tried, you were dead to the world. So we went without you," Sam told him and tossed a bag to him that had his breakfast in it. "Don't worry, got you extra bacon..."

"Well alright," Dean said opening the bag and setting down the styrofoam container on the table. He sat and began digging in. "So, where're we startin' today?" he asked with his right cheek bulging.

"Most of the sightings happened down on main street. There's a lot of shops up there that have been around for decades, so it should be the same people who may have seen or noticed more activity over the years," Sam told him.

"Shops, what kinda shops?" Dean asked curiously as he stuffed a large piece of pancake in his mouth.

"Book stores, antique shops, you know the typical quaint suburbia stuff," Sam told him rolling his eyes slightly at how stuffed Dean's face was.

"What? Guy's gotta eat..." Dean said with a chipmunk grin, knowing exactly what that look was for. Sam shook his head slightly and sighed saying they should get going soon. Dean simply nodded and somehow was able to shovel even more food in his mouth. They got ready and jumped in the Impala.

"What exactly is it that we will be doing?" Castiel asked as they parked on one end of Main Street.

"Gathering intel, seeing if there are any leads on the dragon. I'd suggest you let us do most of the talking," Dean told him as they got out of the car. Castiel nodded and followed along. They went from store to store asking about the odd incident from many years ago saying they were investigating a similar instance in another state for the FBI.

"We're not getting anywhere," Dean sighed running his hand over his face as they made their way toward the next shop.

"Dean, we just gotta keep on, somebody must remember something," Sam said attempting to remain positive. Dean gave an uncertain glance but merely nodded as they stopped in front of the next place they looked up at the sign and it was an intricate scrolled wood stating "Ruth's Emporium". There were various crystal baubles hanging from the ceiling by fishing line, upon closer inspection they looked a great deal like warding symbols. Dean raised an eyebrow and gave a sort of _this looks promising_ gaze.

The three entered and a light chime rang as they came in. Sam's face dropped as he looked as though he'd arrived in heaven. There were ornately covered books lining the shelves some looking to be hundreds of years old and in pristine condition. He went over to a shelf and along with the books sat some intricately designed pewter figurines of everything from angels to warriors.

"Don't have a geek-gasm Sammy..." Dean mumbled as he watched him drool over everything in the shop.

"Can I help you gentlemen?" a young woman's voice called. Dean looked over toward the counter seeing the young lady who looked cute but seemed at first glance to him, a bit off. She was average height, lean and doe eyed but those eyes seemed to simply stare forward not looking at any one of them. Dean gave a little wave and when there was no reaction he immediately realized the girl was blind.

"Hey there, we're investigating an incident and we're hoping that some of the folks around this area might be able to help out, do your parents happen to be around?" Dean asked as he made his way toward the counter. He placed his hands on the counter leaning in slightly.

"Father is out at the moment but perhaps I can be of some assistance?" she questioned.

"Yeah, well, no offense or anything Miss..." Dean began and she cut him off before he could finish.

"You think sight is the only sense that matters? You have no idea how much of the world you're missing out on," she told him and a smirk formed on her face. "You for example," she reached out and quickly grasped his right arm pushing his sleeve up. "You're in quite a hard spot aren't you." She ran her hand lightly over the mark as she spoke in a hushed voice. "Despite trying to wash it all away you still hold the scent of destruction. At the core you're not a bad man... But keep this, and you will be..."

Dean flinched slightly pulling his arm back from her. She gave a gentle smile as if to say she didn't mean to make him uncomfortable. Her nose twitched slightly and seemed as if she were looking at Castiel. Dean glanced between her and the angel then back to her again. "What do you think you know now?" he questioned seeing a sort of confusion on her face.

"Your friend, he's special... My father has friends like him," she commented.

"What does that mean, exactly?" Dean asked furrowing his brow slightly. He really didn't feel like having a surprise run-in with some dick bag angels today.

"Angels... You know... Since they fell they're all around us now," she whispered with a slight undertone of excitement.

"It's not as good a thing as you might think sweetheart..." Dean mumbled as he shook his head. The chime rang on the door and he turned around. A man and a woman entered, one glance and it was clear to Dean that they were trained, the way their eyes scanned the three of them, the way they moved, even their clothing, sensible but clearly tactical, most likely dangerous, definitely armed. The duo's eyes set upon Castiel with some curiosity. Castiel had been entertaining himself winding up a small mechanical bee and watching its wings flutter and shine as they caught the light through the window.

"Castiel," the man finally spoke and Sam looked over at Dean who simply nodded and they began to close in toward them. The man took a quick glance before allowing a small smile to play on his lips. "Relax Winchesters, we do not intend him any harm." Dean's eyes held disbelief but he waited for him to continue. "I'm simply curious as to what this young one might be doing here of all places."

"We're gathering intelligence," Castiel replied as he set down the toy and looked over at the two, Dean sighed slightly at how openly Castiel answered. "You know me?"

"Of course, have you forgotten..." the man began and looked deeper at Castiel examining him. "That is quite a spell you've gotten saddled with Castiel."

"Time out, who the hell are you?" Dean questioned.

"I'm the one who taught him what he needed to know to raise you from perdition all those years ago. My name is Azrael," he told Dean who looked slightly uncomfortable at the mention of something that seemed to have happened lifetimes ago.

"You can't be, Malachi told Cas you died in the fall," Sam said looking at him with suspicion. The last thing he wanted to see was another angel lying about who they were; he'd already been burned by that situation before.

"Because Malachi was always such a genius," the woman uttered under her breath her voice full of disdain.

"Sariel..." Azrael said in a mildly reprimanding tone. She rolled her eyes slightly crossing her arms over her chest and waited for the conversation to continue. "The best way to avoid being stuck in the midst of the war is to be dead. I cannot currently continue my given missions since heaven has been closed for business as it were, so I stay here. I do what I can on earth..."

"Your mission?" Sam questioned.

"He's a lesser known..." Sariel was about to begin the explanation and Azrael promptly cut her off before she could reveal anything about him.

"I'm simply an angel, I had my orders and with heaven closed I can't properly do my job," Azrael told them and Dean looked between the two questioningly wondering what Sariel was going to say.

"Maybe you could help us then," Sam started and Azrael nodded for him to continue. "Cas lost his memory... We don't know how but all of a sudden he showed up and couldn't remember anything at all. So we researched a spell but the ingredients are kind of ... well ... hard to come by. So, maybe you could help us track some of the stuff down?"

"I would be very happy to help him. I have only one condition. Once this is over you can never speak of meeting us, never come back to this town," Azrael commanded his gaze turning deadly serious.

"Alright deal," Dean said quickly as he put out his hand. Azrael gazed at his hand a moment and his eyes moved up his arm, Dean's sleeve was down but Azrael knew what lay beneath it. "What? I wash my friggin' hands, you're not some germ freak are you? 'Cause that'd be kinda stupid..."

"It's not germs that I am concerned with..." Azrael commented but didn't elaborate as he took Dean's hand giving it a firm shake.

"Alright so let's get the ball rolling," Dean began and looked to Sam who started naming off the things needed for the spell.

"You certainly have come to the right place boys," Azrael said with a laugh giving a wave for them to come back into the rear storage area. "Zoey, we're going to need your help." He said to the blind girl as they went beyond the counter. She nodded following back. As they pushed beyond a curtain that separated the front show room from the rear storage their eyes opened wide. This wasn't possible. The room was enormous; Sam knew that the building was nowhere near this large. It seemed to stretch on endlessly.

"What is it they are looking for?" Zoey questioned.

"Well, the first I suppose we should get over with is the dragon scale," Azrael told her.

"Father's not going to be too happy about that," Zoey replied with a laugh. The brothers shared a confused glance.

"He's not really her father," Sariel said quietly seeing the look of befuddlement on the boys' faces. "He adopted her when her parents died, saved her from a demon some fifteen years ago."

"Wait, so her dad's the dragon?" Dean questioned still looking confused as they followed Zoey and Azrael.

"For all the tales I've heard I'm surprised you've survived this long, you're not too bright are you?" Sariel questioned in a whisper her gaze pointed at Dean. Sam gave a quiet laugh and Dean promptly elbowed him in the side.

"You guys should probably wait here... I'll go talk to father about your situation..." Zoey told them as she put up a hand for them to stop when they reached a wall that had a large steel door. She place her hand lightly upon the door seeming to write some sort of symbol with her fingers and a smaller door materialized and she opened it with ease walking in and shutting it behind herself and the outline of the smaller door disappeared behind her.

Dean began humming to himself out of boredom as they waited and Castiel had wandered off when something caught his eye. Azrael motion to Sariel to keep an eye on Castiel and so she quick went after him. Sam leaned his back against the door looking around at the neat shelves of various treasures; at least this dragon was a tidy guy Sam thought to himself.

"Castiel," Sariel called out catching up to him. He looked over at her with curiosity. He really didn't like the odd feeling of familiarity and yet not being able to remember. "I'm sorry this has happened to you. You were a fine soldier. This situation must be very frustrating."

"You have no idea," he replied as he picked up an old snow globe from one of the shelves examining it. The scene within it was of a small village and in the middle a frozen pond with children skating. He turned it over looking at the brass turn key his hand moving toward it.

"I wouldn't muck about with anything back here," she warned as she took the globe from his hand and set it back upon the shelf.

"It looked harmless enough, what would it do?" he inquired in return.

"Things are not always as they seem Castiel... Let's get back to the others, it's really not best to separate in this area," Sariel told him motioning for them to return to the group.

"You make this place sound quite dangerous..." Castiel said giving a doubtful glance.

"One doesn't meddle in the affairs of dragons Castiel. All of these things are precious to him. We've come to an understanding with Ruth and so to keep things amicable everything is best left alone," she replied as they set back to walking toward the group. When they returned to the group there was a great deal of noise coming from beyond the steel door. It was difficult to hear exactly what was being said but there was clearly displeasure in the baritone voice that was beyond the door.

"Well that doesn't sound good..." Sam muttered as he pushed himself away from the wall.

"No it certainly does not..." Azrael commented and walked up to the door placing a hand on it and without a word the large door groaned as it opened into the room to reveal Zoey standing with her hands on her hips facing a large white dragon with furious crystal blue eyes.

"Azrael! What have you gotten my daughter involved in?" the dragon's voice boomed as he glared down at Azrael who was walking in to the room.

"Ruth... This is very important. The fate of heaven may well rest upon the ability to complete this spell," Azrael said and both Dean and Sam spun on their heels looking at Azrael with perplexed eyes. They were just trying to get Castiel's memory back, there was no mention of heaven in their deal.

"We had an accord; you understood my policy for allowing you to remain here. Now you bring not only another angel but humans as well?" Ruth growled as he took steps forward toward Azrael.

"He is not just any angel and they are not merely any humans," Azrael began. Ruth's eyes held clear displeasure at this statement.

"I know that, they are the Winchesters; that makes it all the more virulent. Do you take me for a fool Azrael? Where Winchesters appear carnage is never far behind. Especially where the elder one is concerned..." Ruth's eyes gazed pointedly at Dean before returning to Azrael.

"Hold on a damn minute, who the hell do you think you are? You think you have a damn clue who we are, what we do. You don't know shit about shit! If you give a damn about anybody aside from yourself you'll help us. Unless you're just a selfish bastard like the rest of your kind," Dean yelled his jaw tense as he locked eyes with the dragon holding a steel gaze.

"You hold on!" Zoey shouted as she turned to face him she moved smoothly toward him, despite not being able to see she stood inches from him. "You have no idea how much he's sacrificed! You don't know the first thing about him." She slapped him across the face as she seemed to be holding back tears.

"Okay, can we maybe take a time out here..." Sam interjected putting his hands up. "If I'm understanding everything basically what it boils down to is we want to help our friend and you want to remain safe and hidden here... So maybe we can come to an understanding. We're just trying to get our friend's memory back... We didn't mean any sort of harm."

"Of course, you never mean any harm and then suddenly there's an apocalypse or angels falling from heaven... I don't see how I could possibly want to assist you," Ruth told Sam as he went to turn away.

"Ruth, please..." Azrael began and paused giving a regret-filled look. "If you help them... Sariel and I will leave..." Sariel's mouth fell open as she looked over at him. They had been safe here since the fall. Able to remain hidden from the insanity of the fighting factions and now he was willing to throw that away? How could he make that decision on his own in the first place? The more questions came to her mind the more infuriated Sariel became.

"Azrael, we can't. You can't make that decision. I won't have you speak for me in this. I refuse to leave here," Sariel said and Dean gave a disgusted look. He knew most angels were out for themselves but somehow it never ceased to piss him off when he heard them being so selfish. Castiel was supposed to be one of her brothers but yet she didn't care enough to sacrifice for him. Angels really sucked.

"It would seem that we are at an impasse Azrael..." Ruth said and went to turn back to whatever it was he had been doing in this workshop. Azrael's eyes narrowed on Sariel in frustration. She gave a look of indifference in return and a slight shrug.

"Alright can you two quite with the damn charades and just say whatever you gotta say. I don't wanna be here any longer than I have to but I'm damn sure not leaving until Cas is better. So just sort your shit out and let's get this done," Dean told them impatiently.

"We should just stop," Castiel spoke up suddenly. Dean's features dropped as he looked at the defeated gaze in Castiel's eyes. Dean walked over taking Castiel firmly by the shoulders.

"There's no way in hell we're stopping. I don't care if I have to cut the dragon scale off myself, or go to a God forsaken fairy world.. We're gonna get you back to normal Cas. I promise you that, so don't you dare give up," Dean told him as he forced Castiel to look him in the eyes. "You hear me?" Castiel nodded but Dean could see the hidden disbelief in those blue eyes.

"Sort things out amongst yourselves, if you can bring me a worthwhile exchange for my assistance I will consider it..." Ruth told them remain with his back to them as he worked on a figurine on his bench.


End file.
